What Man Would?
by Rachel Cabbit
Summary: Yamcha looks back on how he feels about Bulma and her evergrowing feelings for Vegeta. Partner fic to “Look At Me”. *30kisses - Theme #4*


**Bulma x Vegeta fanfic for 30kisses community.  
****This follows _theme #4: Our Distance And That Person.  
_****It is in Yamcha's POV and is NOT Yamcha-bashing. I decided not to blame Yamcha for the inevitable break up of the Bulma/Yamcha relationship.  
****This is the partner fic for "Look At Me", so read on to see Yamcha's view on it all.  
****Oh, and please review afterwards, it would help me lots to know how much I suck as an author so I can improve. Apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Point them out for me and I shall attempt to fix them and re upload. **

**Title: What Man Would?  
****Pairing: Vegeta x Bulma (Dragonball Z)  
****Rating: PG13 / T  
****Date Completed: 18/9/05  
****Originally Published: 18/9/05**

I never liked the situation. What man would?  
What boyfriend would be perfectly fine seeing his gorgeous girlfriend share a house with another guy who wasn't even related to her? He's not just any man either. He's a killer. A vicious, murderous alien man who could kill everyone on Earth if he wanted. And she was in the same house, eating the same meals, breathing the same air as him.  
Sure I was worried about him killing the woman I loved, but that wasn't my major concern. After all, he hadn't killed anyone for a while and he needed my Bulma and her family to supply him with training equipment. No, what I worried over was the fact that he was there with her and I couldn't be there to make sure he kept his hands off her. He was a guy after all, and when a guy is shown a woman shining with beauty, it is pretty difficult to control yourself.  
I'm ashamed to say that part of me didn't trust Bulma as well. I mean, there was a mysterious, handsome, bad-ass Prince living with her, flexing his muscles everyday in front of her and I could see how whenever he walked in the room her eyes lit up. It was obvious there was some attraction there.  
She didn't seem to notice, or she tried to hide it, because whenever I mentioned it to her she pouted her soft pink lips and gave me a sad look with her huge blue eyes.

"Don't you trust me?" she asked, hurt.

"It's not you I don't trust, it's him." I answered, half lying. She only smiled weakly at me and said,

"Don't worry about that, Yamcha. He never pays any attention to me anyway."

I questioned the disappointed tone in her voice and the sadness in her eyes but stayed silent, unwilling to argue and risk losing her, just in case that one time she may not allow me to reconcile with her. And I dread to think of her rushing into his arms after breaking up with me.

I hate that Vegeta so much! He was an evil man and I have a good right to hate him, since he and his huge Saiyan friend killed me, and if it wasn't for the reviving power of the seven orange dragon balls I would not be here today.  
Back then, when he first started living with her, I thought I had to be around to protect her from him.  
He was murderous. He'd killed hundreds of thousands of people over the years, myself included. He had worked for a vicious warlord and was feared throughout the universe by those lucky enough to see him in battle.  
He was powerful plus he was a prince. He was ultra confident to the point of being cocky and I felt threatened by him in more way than one.

Apart from the obvious fact he could most likely kill me with a few punches and a kick, he was also more attractive than me. Not just in a sense of appearance, but in manner too. He had an aura that I knew Bulma was attracted to. The whole arrogant, strong and cool Prince of a foreign race.. I couldn't compete with that. He was witty and could keep up with Bulma's intelligence, while I was more often left clueless, he was mysterious and fascinating to her. To be honest, I knew I was fooling myself when I said I knew Bulma loved me, when everyday I felt like I was losing her to him. That person was creating this gap in mine and Bulma's relationship. The gap was growing and growing and was fast becoming a gulf that I could not get over.

It was becoming more apparent to me when I heard things that caused my mind to doubt what I had convinced myself to be true. I tried for hours convincing myself that Bulma did love me, but when I got to her home, Capsule Corp, I heard her mother saying things I prayed weren't true, and Bulma didn't deny them. In fact, she admitted to them!

One time that really hit me was when we were sitting in the living room. I had my arms around her as we sat on the sofa and watched a movie. It was so reassuring sitting there with her like that. I felt as though I was the only one allowed to hold her like that and it was special. But her mother came in and started watching the movie with us. When it got to the romantic scenes where the characters kissed passionately, Mrs. Briefs suddenly came out with the line,

"That must bring back memories, Bulma.."

I was a little puzzled and a little embarrassed. And a little nervous. Was she meaning me and Bulma or Bulma and someone else?  
Bulma was blushing and she hissed for her mother to shut up. It didn't stop there though.

"Bulma honey, it seems just like that kiss you had with Vegeta. You know, the one you told me about.."

Bulma went bright red and glared at her mother. In shock I released Bulma from my embrace, and she turned to me.

"It wasn't a real kiss, Yamcha." She said, "It was just a dream."

I stared at her, taking it in.

"You were dreaming about him?" I said, trying in vain to repress the anger in my voice.

"Yes. Why shouldn't I be dreaming about him? He is a part of my everyday life and the brain processes things while you sleep, so if I see him during the day of course he will be in my dreams at night." She said matter-of-factly, trying to hide the blush still present on her face.

"But you dreamt about him kissing you." I said, "Don't tell me he kissed you during the day and you were just processing that information?" The sarcasm and anger broke through. Bulma's face grew angry. Her eyes narrowed and she jumped up from the sofa and turned her back to me.

"Some boyfriend, jumping to conclusions and not trusting his girlfriend. Do you even _want_ to be my boyfriend Yamcha?" She said in a strained voice, obviously angry at me. I cringed. I didn't want to lose her. She was going to break up with me.

I swallowed my pride and fought against the thoughts I had of her kissing him. And the fact that I knew she wanted to kiss him. I stood up and put my arms around her from behind.

"I'm sorry honey." I said, "I love you so much and when I think about any other guy having his arms around you I get a little… jealous. Can you forgive me? Please?"

She visibly relaxed and her crossed arms fell down to her sides. She sighed and mumbled a quiet "yes". I turned her round and kissed her. She kissed back, but the feeling of before wasn't there. It was an empty kiss. And that was what got to me. That and the fact her mother continued.

Throughout our argument, Mrs. Briefs remained watching the movie. The screen kiss had progressed into more passion as one thing lead to another and just after Bulma and I reconciled she said something that scared me even more than the dream kiss.

"Hey Bulma, was Vegeta that energetic in bed?" She asked, pointing to the sex scene on the movie. Bulma's eyes widened and then she slapped her forehead in embarrassment. Before I could say anything, (my mind was in too much turmoil to even form a sentence) Bulma turned to me with that angry look on her face.

"I suppose you are going to take that seriously as well? I bet you dream of other girls and you have the nerve to lecture me." Then she turned away and stormed out of the room.

I was still stood there in shock and my heart felt as though it were behind squeezed tightly to the point of exploding. I was too angry, too jealous and too upset to say or do anything at that moment.  
Mrs. Briefs turned and looked at me.  
"Was it something I said?" She questioned, mindlessly.

Eventually I went after Bulma and apologised again. She reluctantly forgave me and I was left thinking that I was being silly. _She_ needed to apologise to _me_. _I_ needed to forgive _her_. But I loved her too much to risk our relationship by asking that from her. Maybe she was right? Maybe I was being a bit hypocritical since I _had_ dreamt of other women. But I always shrugged them off as dreams. There was only one woman I wanted to be with in real life and I sure as hell wasn't going to lose her.

But I had lost her. I knew I had even then. That kiss opened my eyes but I refused to believe what I saw. She didn't feel the same way she used to about me. There was no love in that kiss. No attraction. It was as I said, an empty kiss. Void of emotion on her part.

But like a fool I tried to win her over again. Only to be hit with the reality of it all one hot day.  
I brought Bulma some flowers. Sappy and romantic, I thought that maybe she would see that I loved her if I took her on a surprise date or something. I entered Capsule Corp, and was greeted by Mrs. Briefs when walked into the Briefs' family hallway and she pointed me to outside where Bulma was supposedly sunbathing.  
Thinking nothing of it I walked out. Flowers in hand, ready to shout for Bulma and grin at her like the love-struck fool I was.

What I didn't expect was my greatest nightmare come true.

Bulma was standing beside the pool, dressed in a baggy t-shirt and some yellow shorts, her hair shiny and wet-looking. What shocked me was that she was busy. With Vegeta.  
He had his arms around her and they were absorbed in a kiss. She had her eyes closed and he, dressed in only black shorts himself, was holding her tightly, kissing her back with passion but not force.

I turned away and walked back inside, hiding behind the wall, alone with my thoughts.

She was kissing him. She even seemed to enjoy it. All my fears had at last become reality and I had lost her to him. I felt hollow. But a part of my mind nagged me saying _"you knew it was coming". _That didn't stop it from being painful.

Vegeta walked past my hiding place without noticing me. He had a look on his face as if he were thinking hard about something. He seemed neither happy nor unhappy. Just slightly confused and deep in thought.

I got up, seeing that Bulma was alone now. I walked outside and pushing my unmanly urge to cry deep down inside of me, I called over to her with as much enthusiasm as I could.

She was pale, but had flushed cheeks, slightly swollen red lips and tear stains running down her face. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears and filled with confusion and she hardly heard me at first because she seemed so deep in thought, like Vegeta earlier.

"Bulma!" I called again. She looked up, like a deer in the headlights before wiping away her tears and coming over, trying to hide what had just happened.

"Hi Yamcha. What brings you here?"

I smiled sadly.

"You do Bulma. You _are_ my girlfriend." I said. She also smiled sadly. She looked guilty. I knew she was, but I had decided never to tell her what I had seen.

"Bulma, maybe we should go inside." She nodded, forcing a smile.

It hurt to see her feigning happiness. But at least in trying to be happy she was not being intentionally cruel. She wasn't purposely making me unhappy. She did it all innocently.

Once indoors we sat at the kitchen table. I held out the bouquet of flowers, the red roses I'd paid so much for. She looked up at me, forcing another smile, guilt growing in her eyes.

_It will all be over soon_. I told myself. _We won't have to hurt anymore_.

"Bulma." I began. She looked up at me with those huge blue eyes. I looked down at the table. "Bulma, I think that maybe we have been growing apart for such a long time. There is only so much a person can take and although it is painful to do this, it is a necessity because it is hurting us both." Her eyes grew wide. I looked away again, hoping to avoid seeing the glimmer of hope in her eyes. I was freeing her so she could go with him. But I swore to myself there and then that I would be around as her friend, to protect her from him. If he hurt her I would never forgive him.  
"I- I want us to be friends Bulma. Just friends." I said swallowing hard. "The relationship isn't working and I think maybe the love has gone. It's moved on. So now you are free from our relationship. Free to follow your dreams." I hinted, hoping that she would understand that I was doing it for her.

Bulma leaned over the table and grabbed my hand, stroking the back of it calmly and comfortingly.

"Thank you Yamcha." She whispered. "I love you, but...you're right. I love you as a friend and we _have_ grown apart. Thank you for being so understanding about everything." Her eyes spoke of understanding and I knew she knew. She knew that I had known about Vegeta and her. But it was never spoken between us. No words passed our lips that confirmed what either of us knew.

So now I am here to protect her from any heartbreak he may give her. I love Bulma, but over time I have come to realise how futile it was to keep hold of her when it was just hurting her heart more. My love was unrequited for so long. Eventually I got over her. It took years and years, even after the birth of her son to Vegeta, for me to see her as just a friend. I knew she needed me as a friend, and so even though I was angry and upset, I still tried to be a good friend to her.

She had found happiness with him. I couldn't hate her for it. What man would?

**End.**


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